TTI PEC PODCAST

Measuring the Impact and Success of Communication

OUTLINEIntroductionMeasuring Communications

SuccessThe Impact LogEffectiveness of the Impact LogSustaining the Impact Log

IntroductionTo achieve maximum impact, it is imperative that

organisations measure the outcomes of their work.

The importance of measuring communications Success is to help organisations:

Evaluate growth in communicationsMeasure the effectiveness of their outreachDetermine the strength/progress of their contentIn summary, monitoring and evaluation provides an

overview of the progress of research communications in an organisation.

Measuring Communication Success

Evaluation is a key part of communication process. Developing a communication plan is an essential first step but without an evaluation strategy, you have no way of knowing if your plan is working or whether you need to make adjustments.

Measuring communication success is important for long-term success of any organisation. For think tanks, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of research communication helps you know the impact your work has made or is making .

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Why Evaluate?It improves the effectiveness of communication

and performance

It helps you engage

effectively with your audience

It helps you allocate

resources appropriately

How can we Evaluate?Communications is integral and a continuous

activity. for any organisation which intends to improve on the effectiveness of its work.

In order to achieve accurate data and information on this process, CSEA employed the use of the Impact Log.

The Impact Log is used to measure the progress of the centre’s work, strength or the weakness of its communication activity.

The Impact LogThe impact log is a tool used to record and document

feedback of output and outcomes of activity(in this case, research) of any organisation

Why the impact log?It is a precise and adequate way of keeping

records.It keeps detailed records and monitors

communication activities whilst providing access to feedback information easily.

To assess if research output are efficiently communicated, or if it reaches its intended audience

Description of the Impact LogThe Impact Log is a tool used to record and document

feedback of output and outcomes. It is a database which contains information about a project, programme, event or any (ongoing) activity of an organisation.

CSEA developed an impact log for the purpose of monitoring its research findings and communications activities.

The impact log is designed on an excel sheet which facilitates imputing of records or information. It contains different sections where information are gathered.

Currently, CSEA’s impact log has four sections:• Meetings• Events• Press releases • Biweekly seminarsAn example of the Log is shown in the next slide.

Effectiveness of the Impact Log Using an impact log facilitates the assessment

of an organization’s communications capacity; A well detailed log helps an organization:

Keep track of its activitiesLearn how the audience receives its messagesMeasure the success of its output and messages

and whether or not it has contributed to policymaking

Measure the effectiveness of its overall communications strategy and plan

Sustaining the Impact LogEvaluation should be a continuous process; it

helps form a basis for future strategic planning.

It enables an organization refine its evaluation methods and communications strategy accordingly.

It will also help you identify your evaluation priorities and subsequently work on improving your evaluation method to accommodate other sections for more information or data.

Sustaining the Impact Log cont’dCSEA has identified its evaluation priorities that

are most critical to the centres mission and objective

The centre also aims to improve on its impact log to accommodate other relevant sections in order to achieve a robust database.

These sections include: Research Publications Social Media Website Analytics

Thank You!